Somatic Experiencing Therapy, founded by Dr. Peter A. Levine, explores the body’s wisdom for self-regulation and healing from trauma. The term “somatic” is derived from the Greek word “soma,” which means “body.” In the context of therapy and health, “somatic” refers to practices and approaches that focus on the body, particularly how it stores and processes experiences, traumatic events, and emotions.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy – also referred to as SE within this article – emphasizes attuning to somatic signals to address entrenched traumas in the nervous system. This therapy facilitates a deep dialogue with the body’s responses to stress, aiding individuals in unraveling often long-held wounds stored in cellular memory. By focusing on bodily sensations and narratives, SE aims to restore equilibrium in the nervous system through validation, expression, and completing autonomic nervous system processes. Somatic Experiencing provides a safe space for emotional exploration and empowerment, letting the body speak and not just the mind.
The Connection Between Trauma and the Body
Trauma is not just an isolated event; it’s an experience that impacts the entire body, and often for a long time. When we encounter traumatic situations, our body and mind reacts in a deeply intertwined way, leaving lasting imprints on how we approach life, interact, form connections, and ultimately what we perceive as safe.
Our bodies are built to respond to stressful events and trauma through the fight, flight, and freeze responses, governed by the autonomic nervous system. When faced with danger (or at least, something that the brain perceives as dangerous), we either prepare to fight, flee, or freeze to stay safe. These automatic survival mechanisms protect us in life-threatening situations but can become maladaptive when trauma or stress is chronic, leading to persistent states of hyperarousal (fight or flight) or hypoarousal (freeze).
Trauma stored in the body is also sometimes as a result of these natural, inbuilt hyperarousal safety responses NOT being able to kick in. Think of the scared child being shouted at by a caregiver, not being able to yell back; or the young victim of sexual abuse not being able to run away. These unmet needs of the nervous system to respond were not met, and get stored as tension and trauma in the body.
The autonomic nervous system, comprising of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches, plays a very important role in how we process trauma. The sympathetic nervous system activates the fight or flight response, increasing heart rate and adrenaline, allowing us to ACT. Conversely, the parasympathetic nervous system calms the body after the threat has passed. Trauma can disrupt this balance, causing the nervous system to remain stuck in heightened alertness, perceiving everything as a danger, or shutdown, manifesting as chronic stress, anxiety, depression, or physical symptoms like pain and fatigue.
Understanding this connection is vital for healing. Recognizing how trauma impacts our nervous system allows us to find and explore therapeutic approaches, such as Somatic Experiencing, which address these physical and emotional imbalances with gentle enquiry and compassion. Overcoming chronic stress and chronic illness often involves trauma healing, and the best holistic approaches include the body and nervous system. When we bring in Somatic practices, our nervous system can release traumatic energy at that cellular level, and restore balance and well-being.
How Somatic Experiencing Therapy Works
Somatic Experiencing Therapy offers a deep approach to healing by addressing trauma through the lens of the body. At the core of somatic therapies is the understanding that traumatic experiences are stored not only in our minds, but also in our physical bodies, including something called fascia.
Fascia is a network of connective tissue that surrounds and supports the muscles, organs, and other structures within the body. It plays a crucial role in maintaining structural integrity and facilitating movement, however, fascia can also store trauma and stress. When the body experiences physical or emotional trauma, the fascia can become tight, restricted, and even dehydrated, trapping tension and unresolved emotional energy. This is where therapies such as Somatic Experiencing, and even somatic bodywork treatments, such as Myofascial Release or Bowen, really come into their own.
The process of Somatic Experiencing itself begins with developing awareness of bodily sensations, helping the individual recognise how their bodies respond to stress and trauma. By tuning into these sensations, which we might ordinarily discount or not be aware of through our day to day life of either business, or even avoidance or detachment, we can start to regulate our nervous systems. Self-regulation is crucial Self-regulation is crucial for processing and releasing stored trauma. In fact, we teach that being able to self-regulate should come before trauma release. You can read more on that in this article.
After learning to feel into the body and its sensations, a key aspect of Somatic Experiencing Therapy involves gently exploring traumatic memories without re-experiencing the overwhelming emotions associated with them. Both parts of this process actually are not to be taken lightly. It can be (un)surprisingly difficult for victims of complex or severe trauma to be in their bodies, especially if they are experiencing disassociation, PTSD or cPTSD. This is why in these circumstances we always advocate working with a trained Somatic Experiencing practitioner, who can gently and slowly help individuals to be in their body once more though a process known as titration.
This delicate process allows individuals to gradually confront and integrate their traumatic experiences through sensation and bodily expression. By approaching stressful memories in a safe and controlled manner, individuals begin to unravel unresolved emotions and sensations that have been trapped within their bodies, often finding healing comes with some form of expression.
Trained Somatic Experiencing practitioners employ specific techniques to help clients discharge trauma, tension, and pent-up energy safely. These techniques may include targeted movements, breathing exercises, or gentle touch aimed at releasing the physical tension held in the body. When this energy is safely released, individuals can experience a sense of lightness, or relief. There can also be tears, shaking, body-jerks, or other sensations. It is important to emphasize that working with a skilled SE practitioner is essential for navigating this intricate process effectively and safely, without re-traumazing yourself. The guidance and support of a trained professional can make all the difference in helping individuals unlock the transformative potential of Somatic Experiencing Therapy.
Benefits of Somatic Experiencing Therapy
The benefits of Somatic Experiencing Therapy are numerous, but we have seen first hand the impact of this work within our community of Primal Trust™, how Somatics in different forms helps people heal from chronic illness, burnout, chronic stress, and trauma. There is something deeply nurturing and healing for the body to have its symptoms and sensations met with curiosity, acceptance, and love, versus the natural disdain, fear, or even ambivalence we may have become accustomed to approaching our long-term ailments with.
People often feel frustrated with their body for “doing this to them”, or being “broken” in some way, or deficient.
Therefore one of the most impactful and beautiful benefits of Somatic Experiencing is simply learning to just “be” with what is. That’s the first step. Getting out of what we call the “Fix It Drive” in our community, where we are constantly scanning for what is wrong and reacting to that in ways that perpetuate stress.
We are always wanting to DO something with our body to get it to behave differently, or more optimally. We want to diet, or take medicines or supplements, to move it or push it, even to shame it for what we label as faulty or simply not enough. Instead of all of this doing we learn through Somatic Experiencing how to just be. We become the witness to all of the suffering, and we can say, “I hear you. I am here for you now. You can let it all out.” It’s this huge relief for the body to finally be heard, and you will find a number of chronic symptoms, especially pain that has manifested through chronic and unprocessed stress and tension, start to dissolve with this work.
Somatic Experiencing is also wonderful for strengthening our insula cortex, a region of the brain located deep within the cerebral cortex. As we rewire our brain and nervous system for wellness, we want to activate this area as much as possible, to strengthen the neural pathways here instead of the fear-centre of the brain, the limbic system. The insula is involved in multiple functions, including:
- Interoception: sensing bodily states, such as heartbeat, breathing, hunger, thirst, the need to use the bathroom
- Emotional Awareness: processing and integrating emotional experiences, instead of being flooded with emotional overwhelm or reactivity
- Empathy: understanding and sharing the feelings not just of others, but of ourselves, and the parts of ourselves (often younger parts) that experienced rejection, fear, and other traumas
- Self-awareness: contributing to the sense of self and personal identity. Extremely important in something I identified as “immune confusion”, which I speak more on in my free webinar and ebook about Lyme disease. Learning how to discern between “self” and “other” goes all the way down to the cellular level, including helping our body fight infections.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy for Chronic Illness
Somatic Experiencing therapy is all about exploring the body-mind connection to address those aspects of chronic illness caused by unresolved trauma, which ultimately negatively affects our physical and mental states. When we release stress and trauma in therapeutic settings such as SE, we shed a layer of energetic and emotional burden the body would otherwise be holding onto. Getting rid of stored tensions like this helps the body to move out of chronic states of autonomic nervous system dysregulation – fight, flight, freeze – and into the calming and restorative parasympathetic nervous system state, where healing can happen.
We have seen individuals make incredible transformations within our community by incorporating Somatic practices, from Somatic Experiencing sessions with our trained facilitators, to more intuitive somatic movement.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is one condition that we have seen respond particularly well to Somatic Experiencing Therapy. There tends to be a pattern with those suffering from CFS to be living in a deep state of a nervous system freeze response, which I describe as “one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes”. It’s a natural response to trauma for these individuals, to energetically to feel it is unsafe to move, and the result is a chronic shut down within the body’s nervous system and energy production. The fascia tighten and feel “frozen solid”, and this signals electrically all the way down to the cells the message of “not safe, don’t move”, where the mitochondria themselves become affected.
Through Somatic Experiencing, we have seen individuals with CFS learn to feel into their bodies, and express sadness, fears, and even anger, that have been previously been inaccessible due to the debilitating nature of the exhaustion they feel, keeping them stuck and sick.
Integrating Somatic Experiencing with Other Therapies
Integrating Somatic Experiencing (SE) with other therapeutic modalities can create a synergistic effect that significantly enhances healing outcomes. At Primal Trust™, we believe in a holistic approach to wellness that combines somatics with brain retraining, in what we call a bottom-up (body to brain) AND top-down (brain to body) approach.
Brain Retraining:
Somatic Experiencing and Somatic Practices can be effectively combined with brain retraining techniques to promote neuroplasticity and rewire the brain for healthier responses. This integration helps individuals break free from old patterns of stress and trauma, finding release through expression, resilience and recovery.
Mindfulness Practices:
Incorporating mindfulness practices with SE deepens body awareness and enhances the ability to stay present. Mindfulness supports the process of noticing and releasing bodily sensations associated with trauma, leading to greater emotional regulation and inner peace.
Traditional Psychotherapy:
We are huge advocates of incorporating Somatic Experiencing with traditional psychotherapy, as we believe it offers the most comprehensive approach to mental health. While psychotherapy addresses cognitive and emotional aspects, SE focuses on the physical manifestations of trauma. This dual approach ensures that both mind and body are treated, facilitating holistic healing and the most powerful approach to trauma resolution.
Join us in Primal Trust™
If you have resonated with the topic of this article we would love to welcome you inside our community, where we teach you how to regulate your nervous system and turn on your body’s self-healing mechanisms through powerful processes like somatics. We show you how to integrate self-regulation tools and build your own daily routine for unravelling chronic illness and transforming your health.